Open source communities sometimes behave in a similar fashion
I have spoken to many an open source developer who felt that many in the open source community were parasites. Primarily they mean companies who take open source code, profit commercially from it, but don’t give anything back to the community. The facts are though that well over 90% (probably closer to 98%) of open source community members just consume open source product and contribute no code back at all. Yes, some do beta testing and find bugs, but the success of many open source projects are built on the backs of a handful of developers.
Now, one of the leading members of the Apple jailbreak community is refusing to divulge his jailbreak techniques because he says the jailbreak community is “contaminated” by “leeches.” He is not talking about people taking without giving anything back, but the attitude that the jailbreak hackers are somehow beholden to the users.
Stefan Esser, better know as i0n1c, is famous for his jailbreak of iOS 4.3.x. But he has also shown a YouTube of his iPad3 running iOS 5.1 jailbroken as well. Esser has refused to release the hack he devised that allowed him to jailbreak his device. This has angered many in the jailbreak community who think Esser is un-rightfully “holding out.”
Rumors were rampant that Esser was not giving up his jailbreak secret because he did want to be part of the pirating of software. Many who jailbreak iDevices are guilty of by using cracked applications that they don’t pay for. But that is not the reason for Esser keeping his jailbreak to himself according to an interview he did with the Italian language site Ispazio.net (Google translation link included).
Esser says the real reason he has not released his jailbreak is because the jailbreak community is contaminated by “leeches”; Ungrateful users who harass Esser and other jailbreak hackers for not jailbreaking devices fast enough. Some of these users have adopted the attitude, according to Esser (and I have seen this myself in the comments on jailbreak sites), that these developers would be nothing without the people using the jailbreaks. That the jailbreak community has made the jailbreak hackers rich and famous beyond imagination. Therefore, the jailbreakers owe it to the masses to work night and day on jailbreaking the next version of iOS and getting it out as soon as possible.
It is as if these people are owed something. Why? Because a small number of them donate some money to some of the jailbreak hackers? Does that mean they have sold their soul to these people? If they want their Apple toys jailbroken so badly, why don’t they just go out and learn to hack and jailbreak their devices themselves.
I have to agree with Esser. He is not getting rich jailbreaking and releasing the code for free, relying on donations from a grateful public. These people should be grateful that those who do the research and hacking are nice enough to share their findings. The attitude that they owe us something is truly disgusting. I can see why it has turned Esser off and Geohot (another prominent jailbreak hacker) before him.
I own both jailbroken iPhones and rooted Android devices. I am very grateful for the work of the jailbreaking and rootz community. I consider whatever they donate as a gift and have made cash donations to some of them in the past for their hard work. But I would never think I am owed anything by these people. For the most part these people do this for the pure love of hacking and we all benefit.
So the next time you berate or moan about the fact that some hacks are not happening fast enough for you, remember that somebody working on it has a life too.
On the issue of cracked or pirate software, Esser is again not wrong. Too many people use jailbreaking to not pay for apps that developers worked long and hard on. Yes, there are some who use them for Cydia tweeks, while others use them for research, but too many use it just not to pay for their apps.
So whether it be jailbreaking, rooting or open source, remember the coders working on these projects are not your servants or at your beck and call.
